Goldman Sachs and Solarbuzz both expect boost in installed PV power.

Goldman Sachs anticipates strong growth for the next two years. In 2010, 13 GW of photovoltaics are expected to be installed; Solarbuzz even expects 15.2 GW of newly installed PV systems - a doubling compared to 2009. This significant growth could be traced back to the boom in demand in Europe, the US, Japan and China.

Goldman Sachs and Solarbuzz both expect continuous growth for Germany. Goldman Sachs predicts 6.5 to 7.5 GW and Solarbuzz expect 8 GW of installed PV in the course of this year. However, the market is influenced by demand fluctuation due to uncertainty caused by the planned reduction of feed-in-tariffs. Nonetheless, Goldman Sachs does not expect a collapse of the market because of the decreasing feed-in-tariffs, as lower module prices level out the declining feed-in-tariffs.

Germany finds compromise in feed-in tariff reduction debate.

In May this year the German Federal Parliament - led by the Christian Democrats and the Liberal Party - decided to further cut the feed-in tariffs for photovoltaic installations by 1st of July. This initiative was stopped in June, however, by the Federal Council representing the Federal States, which demanded to limit reductions to 10% and called for an arbitration panel.

The arbitration panel decided on 5th of July on a recommendation, which stays close to the original proposal, but provides for a reduction in two steps.

With acceptance by the Parliament on 8th of July and the Council on 9^th of July, a following regulation comes into effect implementing a phased reduction as follows:

Step 1:

The feed-in tariffs are reduced by 1^st of July 2010 retroactively

• by 13% for roof-top systems

• by 12% for ground mounted systems and

• by 8% for systems on so-called conversion area – ground formerly used for industrial or military purposes such as landfills or training areas.

Step 2:

By 1st of October this year the feed-in tariffs of all sectors are reduced by a further 3%.

Italy and Spain want to reduce solar incentives

The solar industry in Europe may see further cuts. Italy is discussing a reduction of feed-in tariffs by 18% and Spain is considering to reduce photovoltaic incentives by 45% for ground mounted installations, 30% for large roofs (>20 kWp) and 5% for small roofs (<20 kWp).

Italy currently evaluates a new draft law, according to which the feed-in tariff is supposed to be in cut in three steps by 2011: Every four month a reduction of 6% is planned to take effect.

Depending on the size of the installation, feed-in tariffs for BIPV installations with innovative products, i.e. where the PV-system takes over roles of the building envelope including thermal insulation and waterproofing, will see lower cuts in just one step. These are expected to range on an annual basis between 0% for small installations, 10% for installations up to 200 kWp and only 16% for large roofs. This implies that the main product solutions provided by Solar Integrated will continue to benefit from higher incentives.

In Spain two concepts are being debated. Originally the Ministry of Industry proposed to cut feed-in tariffs for new installations by 5% to 45% depending on the system type and size.

The actual proposal of the Ministry pursues a different approach:  The reduction in incentives is not to be achieved by cutting feed-in tariffs but by limiting the amount of electricity fed into the grid at subsidized rates:

Depending on the type of installation generated, electricity up to a maximum 1 300 kWh / kWp for static installations and 1 644 kWh / kWp for tracking systems will be remunerated at special rates. Electricity generated above these limits will be compensated at market price levels. According to the Ministry of Industry this law is planned to become effective by October this year and will be applicable for three years. The Spanish Prime Minister Zapatero promised to prevent a retroactive reduction for existing systems.

The Solar Decathlon is a competition organized by the U.S. Department of Energy in which universities from across the globe meet to design and build an energetically self-sufficient house that runs only on solar energy and incorporates technologies that maximizes its energy efficiency.

According to the German state offices of criminal investigation, the number of solar system thefts has significantly increased. Due to the expected decrease in feed-in-tariffs, photovoltaic (PV) systems on agricultural buildings and on company roofs in industrial areas are increasingly removed by thefts.

“Solar Integrated’s PV solutions are theft-secure. To date not a single theft of installed PV systems using UNI-SOLAR thin-film modules is known to us” says Jürgen Braun, Service & Maintenance of Solar Integrated.

The system’s security lays in the system construction itself. The flexible UNI-SOLAR thin-film modules are laminated to roofing materials such as membranes or metal roofs and thus directly combined with the roof as a whole. The PV-modules are hence integrated into the building, whereby the roof covering and installation of photovoltaic modules are realized in one step.

Theoretically, a system theft would only be possible together with the roofing materials. This would be much more complicated than removing conventional crystalline modules from their substructure. Reinstalled thin-film modules would then also have to be connected to a roofing material. However, the PV-module performance is only guaranteed by Solar Integrated when combined with certified materials.

The place of installation further contributes to the protection against theft and consequently the security of the system. The lightweight, amorphous silicon UNI-SOLAR thin-film modules are mostly installed on large low-sloped industrial and institutional roofs with low load bearing capacities. This type of almost horizontal PV installations is barely visible compared to crystalline modules that need to be tilted in a 30° angle to allow optimal energy generation making them easily detectable even from large distances.